Ara: History Untold review

As much as Ara: History Untold is about being the sole victor among multiple leaders in an ever-changing world, it is also about celebrating our cultures and heritage. Oxide Games has put so much work into making its strategy game feel different than many others within the genre, and while it does just that, it also manages to dive into thousands of years of advancements and eras like those inspiring teachers we all had once of as a child. There’s a lot to wrap your head around, but once you become accustomed with the mechanics, it constantly rewards you for your time spent building your nation’s future.

The goal in Ara: Untold is to progress through different time periods in history by researching new technologies that were familiar at that time, building prestige, and defeating fellow leaders in a race to become the most successful civilisation in the world. It’s daunting at first, but you’re given plenty of help to learn how all the intricate systems work. While it is important to expand your empire, discover new lands and cities, and fend off fellow nations, your people’s survival is key, and with every decision you make, keeping them happy and healthy is paramount.

Everything you build in your city and all of the items you harvest from the land or craft in your workshops have an impact on your people’s happiness, health, and nourishment. Deciding whether to build one thing over another can have an effect on your city. Of course, you need basic resources, but if you aren’t providing food for your people it can lead to devastating consequences. Progress was never going to be easy, but the tutorial helps you understand this basic concept and teaches you how every decision you make can have consequences down the line.

The different research you undertake throughout the various ages is both exciting to uncover and integral to you advancement. With each era comes new opportunities but also new challenges, and I was constantly choosing which new buildings to add to my expanding city. Focusing on your economy and potential trade opportunities is great, but making sure your military continues to advance will make sure any rival countries aren’t just going to be able to breach your walls and dominate you when all hell breaks loose. To really get the lead on your rivals is to build Triumphs like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon or Stone Henge, and working your way towards building these is perhaps my favourite thing to do.

Many of these Triumphs require things that aren’t the basic resources like timber or materials. They require you to pick a research topic that leads to a particular resource, then you need to craft it, and once those two targets have been met, you can eventually build your Triumph. It isn’t easy, and you’ll often get pulled away from it in order to fulfil a basic necessity of your people. However, once you see your people celebrating your success at the feet of these historical monuments, there’s nothing like it. They also give you a large amount of prestige which is the main focus of your progression.

Prestige can be earned in different ways, be it through better production rates, success in war, or unlocking new cities to name a few. At the end of each act (each act contains four eras), the leader with the lowest amount of prestige is essentially eliminated. Knowing where to throw your focus throughout your turns heats up as you get further along. You don’t have to research every topic before moving along to the next era, but by researching as much as possible, it will lead to more opportunities. Knowing where to spend your time and money makes all the difference, and like history, it is all a learning curve for what choices will keep you and your people afloat.

Building armies is so exciting, and it became my main focus, especially with my leader, Boudica, at the helm. Spearmen and archers were the staple of my earlier wars, but swordsmen came along, and gradually I was riding chariots, boarding ships during naval combat, and more. Watching history unfold before your eyes is exciting, and my focus was the domination of other countries through the force and size of my armies. Watching rival nations ask for peace only for me to show unrelenting power made me feel unstoppable, but that push to improve armies meant my cities were becoming overpopulated and food started to become scarce; it was one of many problems that arose from the path I had chosen.

You always have goals in mind, whether objectives laid out by Ara: History Untold, or personal ones like sending your scout to uncover the various caches that hold valuable resources, and meeting with leaders to create trade agreements. There are tribes that exist in the world, and over time you can create bonds with these that eventually turn into them joining you. Sometimes a scenario will arise where you can show your generosity and help them thrive, or decide to turn your back on them and keep your supplies for yourself. This goes for other nations as well. They might want your help, and while it might prevent war to be the good guy, it doesn’t always mean you’ll be doing the right thing for your people.

There’s so much to think about and so much to do in Ara: Stories Untold, but you’re always equipped to deal with everything that gets thrown at you providing you’re patient. Things will go wrong because you made the wrong decision, but failure is natural. No leader ever succeeded completely, and as long as you’ll willing to fail, you’re going to be OK. It can get a little much when you’re managing various cities you’ve claimed, all of the crafting lines you’ve built, armies you’ve amassed, and relationships with others, but you can take your time between turns, which play out at the same time for everyone, and allow yourself to plan every minute detail for your next batch of decisions.

Ara: History Untold is a stunning game. Whether you’re watching everything happen from afar or zooming into your cities and watching everyone go about their daily lives, the presentation is stunning. That celebration of cultures is ever-present in all the little details, and I love the effort the developers have put in to showing the wonder in a multitude of faiths and ways of life throughout history. While it can be hectic at times, and watching other leaders climb the ranks while you slowly start to sink can be a bitter pill to swallow, there are always ways to ascend up the ladder or success.

Ara: History Untold is a complex strategy at times, and while there’s still so much I haven’t mentioned, you’re given plenty of help along the way. Some explanations could be a little clearer as I got overwhelmed at times with the amount of information that is thrown at you, but you can visit an encyclopaedia whenever you want that has a wealth of topics where you can search specific words if you’re unsure about something. From the gorgeous presentation to the layers of gameplay, I can’t recommend this enough, especially if you’re a history nerd.